I'm Coming Home
by James Dragonmancer
Summary: After a short trip abroad, Zuko returns home to the loving embrace of his wife... but he comes bearing ill thoughts and a weak heart.


AN: Hey there everybody! Just a few things: this is my first fanfic so constructive criticism is welcome and thanks to TwistedFangirl, definedbymoments, and TheSocialBookWorm for being my beta readers. Also, thanks to Gabbiki at .com for allowing me to use her fanart for the cover.

And in case anyone was curious how this fic came to be, it's a homework assignment gone wild. "Turn your sonnet into a mini-play," he said. "It will be fun," he said. Well, I turned mine into a fanfiction and if that isn't overachieving, then I sorely missed the point of the assignment and will probably need to do it over…

Anywho, enjoy!

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Katara looks up from her book when she hears the antechamber door open. A thrill runs through Katara at the sound, _Zuko's home!_ She sits up from her place on the bed, taking care to fold back the silky covers neatly so they would look nice for her husband.

 _Her husband._ The thought still sends shivers down her spine. They had only been married for a few months, but Katara has had a crush on Zuko since the first time she laid eyes on him when he invaded her village looking for Aang. _Even though he was invading our village, he was still kind of cute._

Over her adventure with Aang, she butted heads with Zuko a lot. But she could never fully commit herself to hating him because she was still inexplicably drawn towards him.

But, when he betrayed her in the Crystal Catacombs to join Azula, it hurt her down to her core. Right after she was finally able to get him to open up to her, he betrayed them all. The pain and anger and grief she felt from that was overwhelming.

Then he had the gall to ask to join them when they were at the Western Air temple, she was pissed and excited and scared and hopeful all at the same time. She wasn't able to fully forgive him until he took her out to find her mother's killer, a pathetic man by the name of Yan Rha.

Then there was just the "fun" experience of conveying her feeling to Zuko and letting Aang down gently… but that's a story for another time.

It's been two years now since Aang saved the world, and the gaang has pretty much all gone their separate ways. Sokka and Suki are together (because, duh) down in the South Pole, after Aang found out that she only though of him as a brother he decided to embrace Toph's feelings for him, and that left her and Zuko.

 _Her and Zuko. Zuko and her._ The year and a half before he proposed to her were both blissful and painful at the same time. She enjoyed that she had finally been able to admit her feelings to Zuko and that he returned them wholeheartedly, but the fact that she wasn't able to be by his side whenever she wanted during that time made her feel like she was going to die of longing before she would next see him.

The jingling of the door handle brought Katara out of her reverie. She stood up with a smile on her face as the door to their room swung open, however her smile fell when she saw the look on Zuko's face… the look in his eyes that shows he's crying on the inside.

Katara takes long strides to move to her husband's side. She grasps his strong rough hands in her soft delicate ones. "Dear, what's wrong?" she says her voice full of concern. Katara tries to look up into Zuko's eyes as if they would reveal the answer, "Did something happen out on your trip?"

Zuko looks off to the side, unable to hold her loving gaze. "No, nothing happened over my trip. Just a routine check-up on the colonies to make sure they are running well." His tone is forlorn and distant.

Katara moves herself so she's back in front of him. "Please," she implores. "Tell me what's wrong."

Zuko sighs, as if he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He drops her grip on his hands and walks towards the balcony windows. "When I have seen by time's fell hand defaced/The rich proud cost of outworn buried age;" He turns from the window and walks along the wall, running his hand over the bookshelf. "When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed,/And brass eternal slave to mortal rage;" He stops at the end of the bookshelf to examine the painted scroll map of the Fire Nation on the wall.

"When I have seen the hungry ocean gain/Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,/And the firm soil win of the watery main,/Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;" He sighs and looks back at Katara.

"When I have seen such interchange of state,/Or state itself confounded to decay,/Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate, That…" He looks away, his voice catching in his throat.

He turns back and locks eyes with Katara, his filled with sorrow and hers with worry. "That time will come and take my love away."

"Oh Zuko!" Katara runs to Zuko, her own tears flowing, and throws her arms around him.

Zuko embraces her tightly as he starts to cry. "This thought is as a death, which cannot choose/But weep to have that which it fears to lose."

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Yay for Zutara! Yay for my first fic! Yay for people liking this fic (hopefully)!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did in writing it. And for those of you that are wondering, yes this counted wonderfully for my homework assignment.

Stay frosty!


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